


Suffrage

by ShayneyL



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 15:11:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16537004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShayneyL/pseuds/ShayneyL
Summary: The crew ofVoyagerexercises their right to vote.  Or not.Takes place in Season 6, when regular but limited contact with the Alpha Quadrant has been established.





	Suffrage

**Author's Note:**

> Been spending a lot of time on election-related stuff, and started to wonder how they handled voting on _Voyager_.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

  
       "Data incoming," Seven said, standing at the main Astrometrics console.

        Harry, at one of the auxiliary consoles, monitored the readouts. Everything looked good. "I'll transfer it to the main database as soon as it's complete."

        Seven turned, looking at Harry oddly.

        "What's the matter?" Harry asked. He looked at the readouts again, but everything looked fine. 

        "You are not distressed," she observed. She seemed faintly puzzled.

        "Why would I be distressed?"

        "You will not get a letter from your parents this month."

        "No one will," Harry agreed. It was by order of the captain, and the crew and Starfleet Command agreed. 

        "On previous occasions, not receiving letters from the Alpha Quadrant was a source of significant distress to the crew. Particularly you."

        "Particularly me?" Harry protested. "Was it that obvious?" He saw the look on her face, and said, "Never mind. Don't answer that." 

        She gave him a questioning look.

        "Seven," he explained. "I agree with the Captain's decision. Communicating with my family is important, but this is more important." 

        "An election," Seven said flatly.

        "Yes," Harry said. He tried to phrase it in a way she would understand. "We're choosing the leaders of the Federation collective." This month they would be downloading information on the candidates and issues in lieu of letters from home; in a couple of months, they would uploading the crew's ballots instead of sending letters home.

        "There are only 148 crew members on Voyager. The Federation population is several trillion. The likelihood of the crew's votes mattering..."

        "If everyone thought that way, no one would vote," Harry said. 

        "Lt. Torres is not voting."

        "That is her right," Harry said. He wasn't surprised. Many of the former Maquis felt the ballot box had let them down. "I think she's making a mistake, though. Your vote is your voice."

        That seemed to have some meaning for Seven. She thought about it for awhile, then said, "In the Borg collective, leaders are chosen by consensus. We did not need ballots."

        "Well, we don't have cortical nodes, so we need ballots." A soft beep indicated the download was complete. "There we go. I'll tell the captain, and she can announce it to the crew." He paused, hand halfway to his combadge. "Seven...are you going to vote?"

        "Me?" She seemed startled.

        "You are a citizen of the Federation, and a legal adult. It's your right."

        "I have little memory of the Alpha Quadrant, and lack the expertise for making decisions about its politics."

        "That's why we're downloading this information. Read it, see if there's anything you want to vote on." Knowing Seven, it would take her about 10 minutes to read it all.

        "I...I will consider it."

        "Good." Harry tapped his combadge to tell the captain the election materials were ready.

# # # # # #

        The mess hall was crowded, filled with conversation about the upcoming election. Harry and Tom sat near the window. Chell and Gerron, at the next table, were arguing about whether too many humans had been president lately.

        "You're awfully cheerful for a guy not getting a letter from home this month," Tom said.

        Harry rolled his eyes. He knew Tom was teasing him. He also knew Tom liked getting mail from home as much as anyone. "Are you voting?" 

        "Sure," Tom said. "Nothing like losing your rights to make you appreciate them." 

        Tom's sentence would have been long over had they not been thrown into the Delta Quadrant. His full rights as a citizen had been restored, including his right to vote.

        "Fat lot of good voting did the Maquis." B'Elanna plunked her tray down on the table across from Tom, and sat down. 

        "Have you _ever_ voted?" Tom asked. Trust him to rush in where angels feared to tread.

        "Like it would have mattered," B'Elanna replied, glowering.

        "You didn't even care about the Cardassians back then," Tom said. "Harry was more of a rabble rouser than you were. He was writing editorials supporting the Maquis for the Academy newspaper. You didn't know who the Maquis were until you met Chakotay." There was an edge to Tom's voice. He was a little jealous of B'Elanna's long friendship with their First Officer.

        B'Elanna turned a surprised took on Harry. "You? You supported the Maquis?"

        "Not exactly," Harry said, repressing the urge to kick Tom under the table. "My editorial was sympathetic to the Maquis cause, but it did not support violence." He never imagined he would meet actual Maquis back then. 

        "If you don't vote, you can't complain," Tom said. 

        "It wouldn't have done any good," B'Elanna growled. 

        "Wouldn't do any harm, either," Tom said. 

        "Excuse me, I'm going to be late," Harry said. He hastily gathered up his tray and made his escape. He knew from past experience that Tom and B'Elanna were headed for either a blowout fight or a makeout session, and either way, he didn't want to be a witness.

# # # # # #

        "This is the Captain speaking. Don't forget, ballots are due tonight at 2100 hours. That means you have 15 minutes."

        Seven listened to the captain's voice coming over the speaker system. "We are not making the upload for another 30 minutes," she observed.

        "Call it a factor of safety," Harry said. "If someone is a little late, their ballot will still be included."

        "Inefficient," Seven judged. 

        Harry smiled. In comparison to the Borg, human efficiency would always fall short. "So, did you vote?" he asked.

        "I did," Seven said. "I cast a vote in the presidential election. I chose not to claim residency on any planet or locality to vote in local elections."

        "Good," Harry said, a little surprised, but pleased. He did not ask which candidate she voted for. Ballots were secret for a reason. 

        She told him anyway. "I voted for Administrator Nivok."

        The Vulcan. He should have known. "A logical choice," he said.

        "Ambassador Zano does not take the threat of the Borg seriously enough."

        Zano had a bit of a pacifist bent. After the Dominion War, a lot of people did.

        The door slid open. It was B'Elanna. "Harry, can I talk to you?" She gave Seven a look. "In private."

        Seven was going to protest, Harry could tell. He quickly jumped in. "Seven...it will be 20 minutes before anything happens. Give us ten minutes."

        Seven looked at him, and then at B'Elanna. "Very well. Ten minutes." She left Astrometrics.

        After the door slid shut, B'Elanna held out a data strip. 

        "What is this?" Harry asked, though he suspected.

        "It's my ballot," B'Elanna said, glaring at him, daring him to make something of it. 

        Harry just took the strip. "Good," he said, and put in it in the reader. 

        "Don't tell," B'Elanna said.

        "Ballots are secret," Harry protested. "I would never read your ballot, let alone tell anyone who you voted for."

        "I mean don't tell Tom I voted. And don't tell Seven, either."

        They would find out if they checked; the database of who voted was public, though of course ballots were not. But she was the Chief Engineer. She knew that. If she wanted to try to keep this on the down low, it was fine with Harry. "No one will hear it from me." He entered her ballot, then gave her the data strip back. 

        "Thanks." She turned and left, and Seven immediately came back in. 

        "Is everything all right?" she asked.

        "Yes," Harry said. "Everything's fine."


End file.
